So Long, and Goodnight
by Twenty Four Reasons
Summary: Long ago, the children of Voclania were unhappy with the way there were treated - more like slaves than kids. So they decided to rebel, forming the Clan of The Never Royals. They have been at war with Voclania - or, The Royals - for decades. But with a new unknown traitor in the midst of them, will even the best of friends turn against each other?


A white-haired albino boy looked around quickly, squatting down slightly. He peaked around the corner, his eyes narrowed. His left hand motioned behind him, calling forward unseen friends.

A blonde haired girl with a large black bow and a machine gun in hand tip-toed forwards first slowly, crouching. Another blonde child, a boy this time with a small ponytail, followed her lead; his fingers were wrapped around two shotguns, one in each hand. Finally, one last boy, a bit smaller than the rest, also with a ponytail but with black hair, swiftly and silently dashed up behind them, a knife tucked in his belt loop and a rifle clutched to his chest.

The white-haired child nodded slowly, pulling out a revolver from his loose, black combat boot. "I see a soldier…" He murmured, his voice low and serious. He looked behind himself, counting his back-ups. "One, two, three…" He mouthed, his eyes darting around. "Damnit, where's Lui?"

The blonde girl looked behind herself, too. She rolled her eyes, sighing, and stood up a bit more. "He's coming."

A few moments later, a boy with red hair darted up behind them, the chains on his cargo pants rattling. "Sorry!" He coughed out, his breaths coming out in shallow, painful gasps.

The black-haired boy at the back put his finger to his lips, his strange yellow eyes wide. The albino boy's attention slowly turned back to around the corner.

The soldiers were now holding their guns up – machine guns, just like the girl's – and were pointed near the kids' hiding spot. The whitette didn't think they saw him, though, since they hadn't shot yet. He turned back around.

"Alright," he whispered, his voice urgent. "They're ready to attack, thanks to our friend back there" – he glared at Lui, who gulped – "but we're ready, too." He loaded his gun expertly, hardly making a sound. Once he was finished, he looked at the raven-haired boy near the back. "Rei, it's dark, and you have black hair and a black uniform. I need you to run to the other corner, about 11 feet from here, as quickly as possible. Don't be spotted. If you're spotted, yell out the 'help' signal. We'll cover you, but we don't want everyone to hear us. If you're spotted, they will. So don't be spotted. Go."

Rei nodded, loading his gun quickly as he inched towards his group leader. "Will do, Piko." After taking a large breath of air, the boy dashed speedily across the pavement, his boots hardly making a sound. Piko watched him go for a few seconds before turning back.

"Rin," he turned his attention to the girl.

She looked at him with a glint of hatred in her eyes, but replied with, "Yes, boss?"

"I need you to be the distraction. Hide in the shadows and when I give the signal, start," Piko explained, pulling a larger dagger out of the back of his belt. He handed it to her, and she glared at him.

"Sure thing, _boss._"

After the angry girl had dashed off, he pulled out two more knives, handing one to Lui and one to the blonde boy. "That leaves us then. Lui, I want you in the back. You suck at knife work and those soldiers are a lot bigger than you."

Normally, this would have offended an apprentice, but Lui simply saluted and whispered, "Sure thing, sir!"

Piko looked at the blonde boy, whose bangs were covering his face. "That leaves you and me, Len."

The yellow-haired soldier nodded. "Sounds good, boss."

The albino wanted to smile at him, to reassure him, to hug him, but right now, he wasn't a lover. He was a commander. And Piko knew Len felt the same.

The white-haired boy swallowed the urges and nodded professionally, standing up. He put two of his fingers from his free hand in his mouth and whistled soothingly, signaling Rin. They soon heard the noise of her boots hitting the concrete, and she shouted, "Hey, idiots abroad!"

The enemy soldiers raised their guns, searching around for her. Piko peaked around the corner, barely noticing her, now in a dark cloak that covered her bright hair. He snorted, pulling out his own dagger - encrusted on its handle, four x's and the words "Never Royal".

"Move out."

The team dashed out from behind the corner, their knives held out in front of them. The soldiers didn't know what hit them; Len's knife went through the first, taller soldier's stomach easily, and he fell over dead, blood quickly spreading over the grey pavement. The second, shorter soldier followed him soon after; Piko jumped up and stabbed him straight in the neck, blood gushing out, making the victim gag, but die quickly.

The whitette looked down at their work. He nodded, satisfied, and turned around. Rin was walking towards them, pulling down the hood of her cloak. "So, why did you make Rei go around the other corner?" She questioned, glancing briefly at the dead men on the ground.

"Protection," Piko replied, tucking his knife safely back in his belt. "Soldiers are usually sent from that way instead of through the gates."

Rin nodded, and Lui turned the knife in his hand over slowly, glancing around. "So, what now, boss?"

Len glared over at Lui, his face pulled back in a tight grimace. "Don't rush him, apprentice."

The white-head sighed and started walking over to Rei's position.

"Hey, Rei, everything clear?" Piko asked, drawing closer.

There was a pause for a moment and the commander was about to call out again, but Rei emerged from behind the corner, a long train of blood running down his cheek. Piko's eyes widened.

"Rei! What… are you okay?"

The boy tilted his head, his eyes clouded with confusion. When the blood trail poked at his lip, he looked around, finally realizing what his leader was saying. Rei brought his hand to his face, wiping some of the blood off, and smiled.

"Oh, boss, it's not mine. Some douche tried to sneak up on me."

The whole group let out a loud breath they hadn't known they'd been holding. "Good," the albino grinned, rocking his head back and forth. "Alright, guys, let's get moving."

Rin, Len, Lui and Piko made their way over to Rei, who lead them around a dead body of a soldier (none of them could tell his age, or features, since he was lying face down) and down the alley.

The blonde boy caught up to the whitette so they were next to each other. Piko noticed his hand was twitching, and he smiled and shook his head before jogging forwards to catch up to Rei, who smiled at his commander. "Hey, boss."

The whitette simply nodded, holding his revolver tightly in his right hand, his eyes glancing around cautiously.

After a while of walking, the group finally reached a steel grey door, and Piko stuffed his gun back in his boot, holding his knife in both hands. He held them above his head and brought them down on the lock that was holding outsiders from getting inside. The lock broke apart instantly, and he snorted. "Wow, the Royals sure are weak...or, at least, their locks are."

With the help of Rei, Piko pushed it open, where two soldiers were standing, looking shocked. They held their guns in one hand, which seemed to be unloaded, and the commander yelled, "Be quick. Rei and I will grab the loot; you guys need to shoot them. Everyone will hear. Be quick. We'll be out of the door soon enough. Cover us until then."

The three behind him nodded, readying their guns. The enemy soldiers held their guns up, shooting a few times, and Piko felt a bullet skin past his arm, and a second later he heard the familiar voice of Len grunt. Acting quickly, the small child threw his knife at the soldier's arm. The dagger hit him exactly where he had wanted it to – the inside of his elbow. The soldier screamed in agony and dropped his gun. Rin took this as a chance to draw her gun, shooting him twice in the head.

"Hey, boss! Come help me with this!" Rei called, two off-white bags slung over his shoulder. Piko quickly raced over to the back of the room and grabbed three, throwing two over one shoulder and one over the other.

When he turned around, he noticed Len had been shot in the leg, and he was struggling to stand up. Lui finished off the last soldier with a shot straight in the middle of his eyes. He fell over, dead, and Piko made a mental note to praise his apprentice once they got back to the base.

"Boss! Hurry the hell up! We need to get Len to a medic!" Rin screeched, holding her brother up by the shoulder.

The whitette nodded, dashing out of the room after Rei and Lui, who had gone ahead to be protection.

"M'lady," a soldier in a black and blue uniform bowed politely, standing in front of Her throne.

"Yes, Yuuma?" She replied, uninterested. By then the news of the raid from the Never Royals had obviously gotten to her; she was the Queen, after all. It came as no surprise, either – those idiot children were always trying to get into trouble. Soon they would realize their foolish ways and would join her, but when they begged for her forgiveness, she would deny, and they would be executed on the spot… She hoped, at least.

"M'lady Hatsune, the soldiers who had investigated the attack had found this," he said, pulling his hand from behind his back that held a dagger. She was about to make a remark about how useless that was, until she realized there was something carved in it.

"What does it say?" She questioned, chewing on a nail.

Yuuma handed the knife to her respectfully, and she took it in her smaller hands, turning it over to read the handle. _'XXXX Never Royal'._

The Queen's eyes widened, and she almost dropped it.

"Four exes? My my… If they indicate the rank of the member, zero being the lowest, five being the highest, then…" She smiled evilly to herself, a perfect row of white teeth showing. "Then looks like we have my dear Piko's knife here, the main Commander's class pet…" She bowed her head, her bangs shadowing her face, and she chuckled. "And little kids never like to lose their toys."


End file.
